On Wednesday 15th April a group of MPs will gather in Parliament, following a Lords debate about the impact of bottom-trawling on marine wildlife, to support calls on the UK Government to expand and accelerate policies for nature recovery.
The event comes after months of growing public and political disquiet about the severe and continuing degradation of the UK's nature. It will be hosted by Chris Hinchliff MP and will see The Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, Woodland Trust and Friends of the Earth speakers set out evidence of ongoing species and habitat declines and the escalating impacts on people. UK Government will be urged to reset environmental policy to address the crisis.
The latest biodiversity indicators of ecosystem health in England show continued falls in wildlife numbers, with birds and butterflies reliant on woodland and farmland being particularly badly affected.
As these declines in wild populations continue, the threats posed to people increase correspondingly. The National Security Assessment on Global Ecosystems, published in summary form by Defra in January, warns that ongoing biodiversity loss may lead to ecosystem collapses - with profound consequences for everyone. It highlights that ecosystem collapses threaten ‘water insecurity, crop failures, fisheries collapse and intensified natural disasters.’
After the first 18 months in which the Government abandoned its election promises for wildlife in favour of attacks on environmental protections, there have been recent signs that Ministers are waking up to the fact that nature loss is the next security crisis. Environmental charities urge ambitious nature recovery policies to avoid crossing a dangerous red line as quickly as possible.
A debate in the House of Lords – also on Wednesday – will highlight one such policy, which the Government could implement without delay. Last year Defra consulted on banning bottom-trawling, the intensive fishing process which devastates marine wildlife, across 41 so-called Marine Protected Areas. Over six months on from the consultation closing, Baroness Sugg has secured a Lords oral question to ask the Government to start the ban without further delay.
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says:
“Ministers have been treading a disastrous path towards weakening the laws that protect the wild places people love, making it harder to tackle wildlife decline and climate change. Now, in the face of public outcry and mounting evidence that nature-loss is burgeoning into the next security crisis, we are starting to see a change of heart. It is essential that policy continues to turn, away from the mirage of environmental deregulation and towards the nature recovery that wildlife and people so desperately need.
“By swiftly progressing a bottom-trawling ban and other wildlife-restoring policies, Ministers can act now to prevent ecosystem collapse, and the unparalleled economic disruption that will come in its wake. It is high time that those in power followed the evidence and begin to heed the public and act to save nature before it is too late."
To coincide with the parliamentary event on 15th April, Chris Hinchliff MP and the heads of over 35 environmental organisations, including The Wildlife Trusts, National Trust and Friends of The Earth, are writing to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs today to urge her and colleagues to overhaul nature policy in the fact of new species-loss evidence. The letter asks the UK Government to avoid crossing a red line for nature by committing to:
- No further weakening of environmental protections.
- No funding cuts to environmental bodies.
- No more collapsing biodiversity, achieved through fully funded policies to meet nature recovery targets.
Chris Hinchliff MP says:
“Time and again, we’ve been forced onto the back foot — pushing back against the deep pockets of the developer lobby and debunking flawed claims used to justify plans that threaten to wreck our wildlife habitats.
“Red Lines for Nature is about breaking this doom loop, demanding a little optimism and setting out the essentials of a programme that truly puts people and planet first.
“We’ve already seen a glimpse of what’s possible with the recent doubling of funding for threatened species. If we keep building momentum, we can turn the tide and ensure the priorities of the nature-loving British public come before the self-interested lobbying of those seeking to profit from the destruction of our environment.”